Top Doctors Make A Difference

Career Mistakes Every Top Doctor Should Avoid

Whether you’re just beginning your career as a physician or you’ve been a top doctor for many years, there are important tips you should always consider to keep your career on track. As you know, the healthcare industry is extremely sensitive – with HIPAA compliancy, other medical regulations, malpractice lawsuits, meaningful use, patient satisfaction and other issues that medical professionals deal with on a daily basis.

So, how can you avoid making a mistake that could derail your career? First, you need to understand what those mistakes are. Here are some of the top career mistakes every top doctor should try to avoid:

Mistake #1: Not learning about malpractice insurance tail coverage.

When a medical mishap happens, sometimes doctors get blamed. One mistake that can be avoided is being sued after you leave a physician practice. This is called tail coverage. Basically, it protects you from claims made against you after you have moved on to another practice. Malpractice insurance tail coverage can be purchased for one year or longer, depending on your area of specialty. One of the best things you can do for your career is educate yourself about malpractice insurance in general, as well as tail coverage.

Mistake #2: Not having a digital presence.

More and more people are looking for health information online. Patients are seeking more interaction with medical professionals in the digital space, yet 50 percent of healthcare professionals believe their job begins and ends during regular office visits. Having a digital presence, especially on social media channels (where a great number of your patients and potential patients are) offers numerous benefits to top doctors, such as the ability to:

Improve or enhance professional networking and education

Promote health behaviors

Engage with the public

Debate healthcare policy and practice issues

Educate and interact with patients, caregivers, students and colleagues

Improve health outcomes

Develop a professional network

Increase personal awareness of news and discoveries

Motivate patients

Provide quality health information to the public

If you don’t have a digital presence, you’re missing out on all of these great opportunities.

Mistake #3: Not being professional on social media channels.

It’s great to have a digital presence as a top doctor, but it can quickly derail your career if you’re not acting wisely. Patients and potential patients can see everything you post, so make sure you’re only posting content that improves your image and does not hurt your reputation. When interacting one-on-one with patients online, remain courteous and professional at all times, just as you would during an office visit.

Mistake #4: Ignoring money-managing guidelines.

This mistake is especially troubling for new physicians, because they may not realize the extent of malpractice insurance, disability and life insurance, and school loans. Instead, they may quickly spend their first few paychecks on other unnecessary items, digging themselves into a hole.

“Many doctors live beyond their means because they don’t have a business education. All they know is medicine,” said Jamie Hutton, M.D., in a PracticeLink article. To avoid this mistake, consider finding a financial advisor who can help you learn to manage your money – at least in the beginning. Most physician salaries may pay well, but it’s easy to forget about the cost involved in this career, too.

Mistake #5: Not striving to do the best you can do every day.

While doctors can’t control whether or not they are nominated, they can strive to represent the characteristics of a top doctor, which would set them a part from competing physicians. Earning a Top Doctor designation from Castle Connolly is a great privilege. If you happened to be nominated, a top doctor nomination is something to be proud of because it also gives thousands of patients access to your contact information so that you can grow your practice. After a careful review of credentials, nominated physicians may be chosen to be listed as a regionally outstanding or a nationally outstanding Castle Connolly Top Doctor. Regional Top Doctors are highly sought after physician leaders in their communities and metropolitan areas. National Top Doctors are the top referred specialists that attract patients from wide geographical areas and across the country. Those who don’t become Top Doctors are missing out on potential for a huge surge of success.

Certain mistakes can have a negative impact on your career as a top doctor. Don’t let it happen to you. Educate yourself and be proactive so that your career as a top physician in your specialty can flourish.